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Personal Data Name: Dan Turgel |
Westerners always think they are meeting Chinese people half way, but the Chinese person feels that they have to make 75% of the compromises. | ||
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| WAT Property is a comprehensive real estate
services corporation. WAT Property offers real estate investment,
development, consulting, and management services for clients in Asia
and North America. WAT’s primary focus is to attract American capital
to invest in China, as well as attract Chinese capital to invest in
America. WAT is truly multi-national with offices in both the United
States and China. WAT’s mission: create high annual compound returns
for private equity investors on both continents while managing their
assets with the most efficient means. |
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Communicating to American clients about how to communicate with Chinese counter-parties.
Sometimes Americans don’t do China well on a small scale. I’ll be at a banquet with American clients who want to work with a Chinese company, and I have to nudge them & give suggestions about normal business niceties -- and they resist! They ask me, “Why would I say that?” Big multinationals know what’s going on, but the smaller American businesses don’t always seem to get it. I’m talking about the owners of medium sized factories and their executives. They don’t take the advice they are paying for. It’s getting easier, but I had to learn to translate Chinese business into an American context.
Fears and insecurities get magnified by business & cultural issues.
We talk to our clients about cultural differences – about what is implicit and what is explicit in Chinese business. Many American clients are new to China, and don’t have much of a background in the business culture. One trick for overcoming the fear of saying the wrong thing is to anticipate what the Chinese want to hear. Always be polite. Be courteous, be gracious, and give face. We tell clients – never try to directly talk about cost in an early meeting. Build a relationship in the Chinese style, which is more of a ‘business friendship’.
Negotiating the Chinese way.
Sometimes you know your counter-party’s offer is way out of line with the market. You know that you can, should, and will be able to negotiate with this person – but what is the right approach? You want to keep the business friendship, but are not going to pay outrageous prices. Dealing with Chinese negotiations requires a new skill set. It’s not like western negotiating. Every project has its unique set of circumstances. You have to be creative and find ways of developing mutually beneficial deals. Chinese believe in win-win negotiating – but the old joke about “some people being more equal than others” definitely applies to the final split. Business relationships matter in China. They’re different here, and they matter more. They are treated like long-term connections, and you can’t allow a single transaction to threaten them.
Sometimes Americans don’t do China well on a small scale. I’ll be at a banquet with American clients who want to work with a Chinese company, and I have to nudge them & give suggestions about normal business niceties -- and they resist! They ask me, “Why would I say that?” Big multinationals know what’s going on, but the smaller American businesses don’t always seem to get it. I’m talking about the owners of medium sized factories and their executives. They don’t take the advice they are paying for. It’s getting easier, but I had to learn to translate Chinese business into an American context.
Fears and insecurities get magnified by business & cultural issues.
We talk to our clients about cultural differences – about what is implicit and what is explicit in Chinese business. Many American clients are new to China, and don’t have much of a background in the business culture. One trick for overcoming the fear of saying the wrong thing is to anticipate what the Chinese want to hear. Always be polite. Be courteous, be gracious, and give face. We tell clients – never try to directly talk about cost in an early meeting. Build a relationship in the Chinese style, which is more of a ‘business friendship’.
Negotiating the Chinese way.
Sometimes you know your counter-party’s offer is way out of line with the market. You know that you can, should, and will be able to negotiate with this person – but what is the right approach? You want to keep the business friendship, but are not going to pay outrageous prices. Dealing with Chinese negotiations requires a new skill set. It’s not like western negotiating. Every project has its unique set of circumstances. You have to be creative and find ways of developing mutually beneficial deals. Chinese believe in win-win negotiating – but the old joke about “some people being more equal than others” definitely applies to the final split. Business relationships matter in China. They’re different here, and they matter more. They are treated like long-term connections, and you can’t allow a single transaction to threaten them.
Networking is key.
Both on the Chinese side and American side. Use different platforms to reach a wide range of people. Professional associations, university alumni associations – anything you can think of. You have to be aggressive in growing both the American and Chinese sides of your network. Even established businesses have to network to find people who can provide services or resources. Networking has brought me from having no toehold in any industry to having a solid and growing group of industry contacts and government relationships. Chinese networking is more friend-based, and your contacts take a much more active role in the process. Sometimes a Chinese associate will happily go out for drinks with you, but business dinners are also very common – so be open to both options. When a Chinese associate offers to meet you for dinner, don’t be surprised to see a few other people attend as well. Generally, the expectation is that you, someone in your network, your connection, the network target, and his contact will all meet for a friendly dinner, and start the relationship safely and comfortably. Networking customs vary in different parts of China. In Qingdao, you’ll do the fancy banquets. Shanghai is different – it’s more likely to be Starbucks or a nicer café.
Technical command of the language in Chinese.
My ability to speak Chinese has given me a level of respect from Chinese counterparts that I couldn’t have otherwise. It’s particularly true about technical language and jargon. When the Chinese counterpart hears that I have the ability to communicate, they take it as a show of respect. They like it. Being able to speak fluent Chinese really does set me apart from other Westerners. Westerners always think they are meeting Chinese people half way, but the Chinese person feels that they have to make 75% of the compromises and accommodations. Anything you can do to establish a solid business relationship is going to pay off. The long term potential of China is going to dwarf what we’ve already seen, but it’s about the Chinese market. You have to send a message to Chinese people that you want to have a long term relationship.
Both on the Chinese side and American side. Use different platforms to reach a wide range of people. Professional associations, university alumni associations – anything you can think of. You have to be aggressive in growing both the American and Chinese sides of your network. Even established businesses have to network to find people who can provide services or resources. Networking has brought me from having no toehold in any industry to having a solid and growing group of industry contacts and government relationships. Chinese networking is more friend-based, and your contacts take a much more active role in the process. Sometimes a Chinese associate will happily go out for drinks with you, but business dinners are also very common – so be open to both options. When a Chinese associate offers to meet you for dinner, don’t be surprised to see a few other people attend as well. Generally, the expectation is that you, someone in your network, your connection, the network target, and his contact will all meet for a friendly dinner, and start the relationship safely and comfortably. Networking customs vary in different parts of China. In Qingdao, you’ll do the fancy banquets. Shanghai is different – it’s more likely to be Starbucks or a nicer café.
Technical command of the language in Chinese.
My ability to speak Chinese has given me a level of respect from Chinese counterparts that I couldn’t have otherwise. It’s particularly true about technical language and jargon. When the Chinese counterpart hears that I have the ability to communicate, they take it as a show of respect. They like it. Being able to speak fluent Chinese really does set me apart from other Westerners. Westerners always think they are meeting Chinese people half way, but the Chinese person feels that they have to make 75% of the compromises and accommodations. Anything you can do to establish a solid business relationship is going to pay off. The long term potential of China is going to dwarf what we’ve already seen, but it’s about the Chinese market. You have to send a message to Chinese people that you want to have a long term relationship.
Build strong relationships.
Understand and prepare yourself to go a step further in building your business relationships – and know that you will get repaid many-fold. Care about the people you work with, because they are a very important resource for other relationships. Read about other managers who have been successes -- 95% of that success is built on serious relationships that they have fostered with the people they work with. That can mean small gifts – nothing expensive - just bring your culture to them. Explain how a process works – or what baseball is about. Build a connection. If they ask you for a recommendation to help their child get into a school in the US, do it. Go a little further to build a connection than you would in the West. You’ll see reciprocity, and then you know you’ve achieved a new level in the relationship. You won’t necessarily see a quid pro quo, but you’ll know you are making progress.
Understand and prepare yourself to go a step further in building your business relationships – and know that you will get repaid many-fold. Care about the people you work with, because they are a very important resource for other relationships. Read about other managers who have been successes -- 95% of that success is built on serious relationships that they have fostered with the people they work with. That can mean small gifts – nothing expensive - just bring your culture to them. Explain how a process works – or what baseball is about. Build a connection. If they ask you for a recommendation to help their child get into a school in the US, do it. Go a little further to build a connection than you would in the West. You’ll see reciprocity, and then you know you’ve achieved a new level in the relationship. You won’t necessarily see a quid pro quo, but you’ll know you are making progress.
